Day in Rock Report for 09/25/2017

Today's Day in Rock Stories

(Gibson) The Hall of Heavy Metal History launched in 2016, and now, it's back for round two. Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward and Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale are among the sophomore class of inductees into the Hall of Heavy Metal History, and that's just the beginning.

Other artists slated to be included include Dream Theater keyboard player Jordan Rudess, Vanilla Fudge and former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Carmine Appice and Mr. Big bass slinger Billy Sheehan.

As for bands, Exodus, Anvil and Riot will be inducted at the upcoming ceremony, set for Jan. 24, 2018, in Anaheim, California. The debut ceremony for the Hall of Heavy Metal History took place in January of this year. Some of the first inductees included the late Ronnie James Dio, Lemmy Kilmister and Randy Rhoads. Read more

Corrosion Of Conformity broke the sad news to fans on Sunday that their former lead singer Eric Eycke had passed away. He appeared on their 1984 album "Eye For An Eye".

Few details are known about his passing, but some media outlets report that he had been in hospice for a variety of issues just prior to his death. The band shared the following message via their Facebook page:

"We are saddened to learn of the passing of one time COC vocalist Eric Eycke, whose broad musical knowledge shaped the band's early identity and whose energy is evident on our first hardcore era album Eye for an Eye".

"This simply does not seem real. We traveled far and wide in a sh*tty van, blowing up stages together, trying to live up to the likes of The Bad Brains and Black Flag."

While Stone Temple Pilots are remaining tightlipped about their current search for a new lead singer to replace the late Scott Weiland, they say things are looking good.

Dean and Robert DeLeo made an appearance on the Jonesy's Jukebox radio show on the Los Angeles radio stations KLOS this past Friday and were asked about their search to replace Weiland and short-lived singer Chester Bennington.

Robert was asked by the former Sex Pistol guitarist Jones during the interview for an update on the search. "It's top secret right now, but we're working on it," he replied.

Dean then added: "It's looking good, man. Looking good. New music. And it won't be too long before we shave the cat, as Robert says." Read some speculation about who the new singer may be and watch the full interview

(Radio.com) Chester Bennington was in good spirits days before his death. A video clip shared by his wife, Talinda Bennington, shows him eating jelly beans with his kids while trying to guess the flavors  36 hours before he took his life.

"My next tweet is the most personal tweet I have ever done," tweeted Talinda. "I'm showing this so that you know that depression doesn't have a face or a mood."

"This is what depression looked like to us just 36 hrs b4 his death. He loved us SO much & we loved him. #fdepression #MakeChesterProud," read the second post that accompanied the video.

Bennington was found dead after committing suicide at his home in California in July. Linkin Park were scheduled to go on tour later that month but canceled after they learned what had happened. Over the weekend, vocalist Mike Shinoda promised fans "some announcements" this week. Previously, the band has said they will honor the late frontman with "a special public event."

"Good morning. I'm on a bit of a social media diet. Watching not talking," Shinoda wrote earlier this month. "Stay tuned for some announcements this week." Watch the video

Rocker Lou DiBello recently released his new studio album "Heat Wave" and to celebrate we asked him to tell us the story behind the song "Blood On The Cross". Here is the story:

The song "Blood On The Cross" is a song that means a lot to me, and is one of my favorites from the Heat Wave album. Everything about it really came together, from the guitar parts, and tones, to the personnel, to the vocals and finally the mix and mastering.

It all started with the lyric chorus hook that I had knocking around in my head for a while before writing the whole song. It was inspired partly by the history of the Knights Templar, who in battle surely fought "with blood on the cross" both literally and figuratively. But is also a recognition, metaphorically, of the struggles we all face in daily life one way or another, and how many people use their faith for support fighting life's battles, be they large or small.

At this time I was also first speaking with legendary guitarist Ross "The Boss" Friedman about my musical goals, and I began formulating some ideas of hopefully working with him. As it turned out, he ended up playing lead guitar on this song for me, and we came up with what I think is a really great solo trading section and then a very nice harmony part, before he plays the outro solo over my harmony theme. Besides Ross, bassist Mike LePond from Ross's band and Symphony X, played an amazing bass part. Along with drummer Bobby Whiles, the music was done and was great.

Next up the vocals, and singer Carsten Lizard Schulz did an amazing job. This was the second song he sang for me, and when I heard this I knew we would be working more together. He sang four songs for me on the record, and we will be recording more in the future. Carsten was also instrumental in hooking me up with producer/engineer Rolf Munkes of Empire Studio in Germany, who did an incredible job with the final mix and master of not just this song, but the whole record. I usually hear my songs pretty well fully formed in my head before recording them, and when I heard this after the mastering I was both stunned and ecstatic at the same time. It could not have come out more like what I heard in my head in the earliest stages of writing the tune.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album

(Radio.com) Dave Grohl has plenty of accomplishments under his belt: He helped pioneer grunge as a member of Nirvana and sold millions of albums with his next band, the Foo Fighters. But reflecting on his achievements, it's not the commercial or cultural power of his work that he rates the highest.

It's the time the Foos rocked so hard at a show in 2011 in Western Springs, New Zealand, they basically triggered an earthquake. "We played at some speedway outside of town and the audience was jumping around so much that it triggered the seismograph," he told The New Zealand Herald. "We have that seismograph readout of the show on the wall in the studio. I'm probably more proud of that, then anything we've ever done," he said.

Foo fans have even more hard rocking to look forward to on their ninth studio album, which comes out today. On the album, Grohl promises big sound. Read more

(Radio.com) Saturday (September 23rd) marked the 40th anniversary of David Bowie's iconic track "Heroes" and Depeche Mode celebrated the occasion by releasing a cover of the song.

The synth pop pioneers, who have been featuring the track during their current tour, filmed a performance of the song during their recent Highline Sessions session in New York City.

Depeche Mode are still weighing their options about how to release complete footage from this concert, reports Rolling Stone. Frontman Dave Gahan spoke to NME about the cover and said "Heroes" is one of his all-time favorites.

''Heroes" is the most special song to me at the moment," Gahan said. 'Bowie is the one artist who I've stuck with since I was in my early teens. His albums are always my go-to on tour and covering 'Heroes' is paying homage to Bowie."

Gahan also discussed the cover with Rolling Stone and seemed surprised by how well it turned out. "I was so moved, I barely held it together, to be honest," Gahan said. "Martin [Gore] listened to 'Heroes' once it was mixed and randomly told me, 'Wow, that was really f good.' And I said, 'Yeah, it was, wasn't it?'" Watch the video of Depeche Mode's cover of "Heroes"

(hennemusic) Mastodon are streaming the tune "North Side Star" from their newly-released EP, "Cold Dark Place." The song joins "Blue Walsh" and the title track as one of three songs on the package that were produced by Nick Raskulinecz and recorded during sessions for the band's 2014 album, "Once More 'Round The Sun."

"North Side Star" follows the lead track, "Toe To Toes", which was produced by Brendan O'Brien last year while the pairing worked on the Atlanta band's current album, "Emperor Of Sand."

Now available via CD and digital formats, the project will also be issued as a limited-edition 10-inch vinyl picture disc on October 27. Mastodon are currently playing a series of US festival dates before officially kicking off a fall tour of North America with Eagles Of Death Metal and Russian Circles at Hard Rock Live in Orlando, FL on September 26. Stream the song

(Radio.com) Few artists personify the sound of the American heartland like Detroit classic rocker Bob Seger. So it's with some surprise that Seger has revealed his next single to be a cover of legendary New York king of cool, Lou Reed.

For his upcoming album, I Knew You When, Seger has released his version of Reed's "Busload of Faith" as its lead single. "Busload of Faith" was an album cut found on Reed's 1989 full-length, appropriately titled New York.

As the Detroit Free Press points out, Seger has put his own spin on one of the song's lyrics, swapping out the word "churches" for "real estate" in what may be a jab at President Trump: "You can't depend on the president /Unless there's real estate that you want to buy."

With his music only just hitting streaming services this past June, Seger has yet to release the new single on any of those platforms yet. Read more

(Radio.com) A brutal new trailer that has been released for the upcoming Netflix/Marvel collaboration, The Punisher, effectively makes use of Metallica's 1988 classic song "One."

The trailer opens with lead character Frank Castle (actor Jon Bernthal) playing acoustic guitar to the opening strains of "One" and reminiscing about his wife when she is brutally murdered as he watches on helplessly during a flashback sequence.

As expected, all hell breaks loose from there, with assault rifle fire cued up to Lars Ulrich's rapid-fire double-bass drum patterns in the Metallica track, which plays throughout the trailer.

Cars crash, a lot of people get shot, Frank Castle is seen with blood splattered across his face and a lot of stuff gets blown up. The trailer ends on the tagline, "The truth must be taken."

The Netflix show, a spin-off from Season 2 of Marvel's Daredevil, is set for a 2017 release, although no exact date has been revealed. Watch the intense clip

(Gibson) Billboard recently spoke with four esteemed guitarists who made significant contributions to Steely Dan's body of work. At one point, each player was asked to recall his first impression of the band's music.

"I loved it from the very beginning," said Elliott Randall, whose intro and solo on "Reelin' in the Years" remains iconic. "A year or two before their ABC-Dunhill deal was inked, I spent many nights in the studio with Don [Fagan] and Walter [Becker], recording demos of their material ."

"I had heard their hits from the first two albums and liked them a lot," offered Dean Parks, whose playing graced Pretzel Logic, Aja, and other Steely Dan LPs. "Pretzel Logic seemed different though. The music was unpredictable, which is good."

"I knew nothing about Steely Dan before recording with them on Aja," revealed Steve Khan, whose playing was crucial to 1980's Gaucho. "I owned none of their albums, and I only knew 'Do It Again' and 'Reelin' in the Years' from the radio. Read more

The project sees Cameron taking center stage as vocalist and songwriter while surrounding himself with experienced musicians for the project - including the rhythm section of drummer Mark Guiliana and bassist Tim Lefebvre from David Bowie's 2016 album, "Blackstar."

The drummer says the album title goes all the way back to when he first moved to Seattle, WA in 1983. "I brought a 4-track cassette recorder and kind of plugged into the local music scene using that name," Cameron tells Rolling Stone. "There were a lot of dudes and ladies recording their own music and putting it out on compilations and stuff."

After three decades of work behind the kit with Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, the rocker decided it was time to finally release music under his own name. "I got to a point where I felt the songs sounded pretty good to me," he says. "And so then I decided to bite the bullet and put it out there, warts and all."

Cameron and Pearl Jam will debut their concert film, "Let's Play Two", and release its companion soundtrack album on September 29. Stream the song

(Radio.com) Walk the Moon have released the new single "One Foot" and an accompanying video for the song. The track is the Cincinnati, Ohio band's first original recording since 2014's Talking Is Hard and the first release since the 2016 live album You Are Not Alone.

"One Foot," a buoyant pop tune with spangly guitars, galactic keyboards and a hook-laden chorus is the first preview from Walk the Moon's upcoming album What if Nothing, which currently lacks a release date.

The video for "One Foot" was shot in Joshua Tree National Park and, according to a press release, it was "methodically planned to coincide exactly with the great American eclipse of 2017." The clip was shot with specialized lenses modeled after the glasses people all over the country wore to view the eclipse.

The clip was shot with specialized lenses modeled after the glasses people all over the country wore to view the eclipse. Robert Hales (Nine Inch Nails, Imagine Dragons) directed the video, and the visual effects were executed by creative director, Felipe Posada (The Invisible Realm).

"We've never felt more true to ourselves than we do right now, releasing this song and this upcoming record," says frontman Nicholas Petricca. "'One Foot' is the soundtrack of our journey this past year, moving forward even when the path is uncertain." Watch the video